Comment Log Display

Dear Ms. Nichols and California Air Pollution Control District
Board Members:

Large cargo ships traveling off our coast produce significant GHG
and toxic air emissions that impact our coastal communities, as the
ARB and local APCD studies have shown. Ship strikes also pose a
threat to whales navigating the Santa Barbara Channel as seen in
the last few years' toll of large whales. 
While counting whale fatalities is not an exact science--their
bodies tend to sink and the giant cargo ships do not even notice
the lethal impacts--I believe the list of affected species goes
beyond fin and humpback whales to include grays, the state's own
symbol of marine mammal.  
Slowing down cargo ships meets multiple objectives in your Draft
Cap-and-Trade Investment Plan including: reducing GHG emissions and
other air pollutants, improving public health, and better whale
protection. 
I support including vessel speed reduction in your Final Plan as a
priority for funding and request Cap-and-Trade money be directed to
the Vessel Speed Reduction Initiative. 
To not do so risks adding another iconic species to the state's
list of honored but lost animals, like the grizzly bear.
Thank you for considering this modest request.
Vic Cox